Key retainer



Sept. 16 1924.

M. J. O'NEILL Y KEY RETAINER 7 Filed Sent. 21, 2

INVENTOR ATTORNEY5,,

Patented Sept. 16, 1924.

H Tar ivrannrcn J. ONEILL, or STAMFORD, oonnncrron'r.

KEY RETAINER.

Application filed September 21, 1922. Serial No. 589,570.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAURICE J. ONEILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stamford, county of Fairfield, State of Con necticut, have invented an Improvement in Key Retainers, of which the following is a specification.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective device for preventing accidental dropping of the key from a look when, for instance, the door is closed or slammed.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a device of this character which is, simple in construction and may be easily applied to a look.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a key retainer which will be automatic in its operation, and will also allow easy insertion and removal of the key at all times without a separate operation on the part of the user.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, I have devised the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a door, showing a lock with my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section substan tially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 1, but upon somewhat larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the retaining device, the cover plate for the look being removed, and

Fig. 5 is a vertical section substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4:.

In illustrating my invention I have indicated a portion of the door at 10, to which the latch and look, not shown, is secured in the usual manner. The latch is operated by the usual spindle l1 and knob 12, and the look by key 13, adapted to be passed through an opening 14 to the lock in the usual manner. I place over this opening, preferably on the outer surface of the door, the key retaining means, which comprises a sheet of flexible material 15 having an opening 16 therethrough and a slit 17 leading downwardly from the bottom of this opening. If preferred, however, the opening may be omitted, and the slit alone employed. This sheet of flexible material is secured to the door over the opening it by any suitable means such as screws 18, and is so located,

that the opening 16 and slit 1? are in alignment with the opening 14;. This sheet may be made of various materials such as rubber, leather or suitable fibre, but it should be sufiiciently flexible to. allow the insertion and removal of the key, and should tend to assume the closed position as shown, that is, the portions on opposite sides of the slit should automatically return to the plane of the sheet after the key is inserted or removed, so that the opening 14: is always covered. The material should have suiiicient stiffness, however, to retain the key in the look, as shown in Fig. 2, when it is not desired to remove the same.

Superimposed upon the key holding member 15, I place a flat plate 19 preferably of sheet metal. This plate is also preferably substantially U-shaped," and it extends around the opening 16 and slit 17, but at the free ends of the legs thereof is provided with inwardly extending projections 20, which extend on opposite sides of the slit 17, and terminate a short distance therefrom. These projections serve to stiffen the retain ing element 15, especially to increase its resistance to movement outwardly, or that is, to cause it to have greater resistance to removal of the key than to insertion of the key in the lock. The retaining means is enclosed by the usual cover plate 21, and the projections 20 also serve to prevent the key drawing the sides of the retaining member 15 adjacent to slit 17 through the key-hole 22 in the plate when the key is removed from the lock. I

In operation the key-hole 14 is always covered by the member 15. The key, however, may be inserted in the lock or removed therefrom at any time desired in the usual manner. As soon as the key is inserted, however, the sides of the retaining element automatically move to the key-holding position, and effectively prevent accidental dropping of the key from the look, even when the door is slammed. They also prevent rattling of the key in the lock.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention what I claim is:

1. In a lock having an opening for insertion of a key, a sheet of flexible material secured over said opening provided with a slit in alignment therewith, and normally tending to assume a position to close said opening a substantially U-shaped plate over said sheet and having inwardly extending proections ad acent its free ends terminating on opposite sides of said slit, and-an-es--- cutcheon enclosing the plate and provided with a key opening in alignment with said slit.

2. In 'a lock having an opening for the insertion of a key, a piece of flexible material over said opening provided with a slit in alignment therewith and normally tending to assume a position'to close said opening, said material also'arranged to yield to allow insertion and withdrawal o'fja key, and means to increase its resistance to withdrawal of the key over its resistance to insertion of the key;

3. In a lock having an opening for a key,

a piece of flexible material secured over said opening provided With a slit in alignment therewith and normally tending to assume a position to --close said opening, said material also arranged to yield to allow insertion and WitdraWal of a key, a plate secured over said. piece of material on the outside thereof and provided with projections engaging the outer surface of the material on opposite sides of the slit. to cause greater resistance to removal of the'key than to insertion thereof, and an escutcheon plate enclosing said first mentioned plate and in allgnment provided with a key opening with the slit in the flexible materlal.

In testlmony \vhereoi I affix my signature.

MAURICE J ONEILL. 

